As my first by Lisa Edmonds, this urban fantasy world was set with betrayal, murder, and exposed dark secrets. Alice fakes her own death to escape her abusive and murderous family. Under a new name and face, she works as a magical private investigator. She manages to keep a little profile until hired to retrieve a powerful magical artifact that will could bring the city to its knees. I liked what Edmonds achieves with this gritty mage society and Alice’s attempt to save her world. I liked her characters, and the werewolf gets my favorite vote. Though, I think her writing style fell a bit flat for me since I felt like something was missing. I’m torn on whether I should read book 2 and give this series another try… (3/5 rating)